Keeping It Real
by The Butcher's Son
Summary: Harry dissapears after finding the Dursleys dead in their house, strange attacks plague the wizarding world and a strange new assasain called Bolt appears. R
1. Prologue

Tragically enough I don't own the rights to Harry Potter, I wish I did but I don't. All the rights belong to JK Rowling so if I make any money out of this im fucked, but I don't so im safe. Anyways enjoy.

Keeping it Real.

Prologue:

A heavy rain assaulted the residents of little whinging, what had started as a slight drizzle earlier in the day had soon turned into torrential rainstorm. Highly unusual weather for mid august.

A young man slowly walked through the downpour ignoring the freezing rain running down the back of his neck and the gale winds that assaulted his baggy, mismatched clothes.

His hands shoved deep into his pockets Harry Potters mind continually played over the events of the tragic night a couple of weeks ago when he and his friends had charged into a trap in the ministry. The memory brought a tear to his eyes and he mentally kicked himself for being so stupid. If it wasn't for his reckless foolishness Sirius would still be alive. It was his fault.

Angrily kicking a stone that lay in his path Harry sniffed deeply and rubbed his nose with his sleeve. The new business car that sat proudly on the Dursleys driveways was blaring its car alarm loudly, a new dent was visible in the right rear passenger door where Harry's stone had made contact.

Standing deadly still on the gravel driveway Harry waited inevitably for the front door to be thrown open his red faced uncle to come striding out to see what why his cars alarm was going off. If he hadn't been so depressed Harry would have been dreading the conflict with his uncle but as it was he really couldn't bring himself to care.

After 5 minutes of standing in the cold rain curiosity got the better of the aging teenager and he slowly made his way up to the front of the house.

Only then did Harry notice that the front door was ever so slightly open. Why would the front door be left open? Surely the hallway would be full of water and all the heat would have escaped the house, his aunt Petunia would throw a fit.

Harry pushed on the white plastic of the door, which swung open further allowing him access into the house. The distinct smell of bonfire met his nostrils. Confused Harry took a deep whiff of air, yes that was defiantly burning wood but he could also smell burning meat.

Coughing Harry shook his head to get the distracting smell out of his sinuses.

"Aunt Petunia! What's that smell?" Harry yelled into the house. His only answer was an eerie silence. The house was far too quiet. Dudley was always making some loud noise of another, be it playing loud rap music or killing things on his games consoles. Even if he was out, Uncle Vernon would be making a lot of noise, either playing with his power tools or yelling at some poor unfortunate down the phone.

Fear struck Harry like a cold blade in the heart. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and his hands started shaking uncontrollably.

Forcing himself to cross the hallway he pushed open the living room door.

Shards of wood littered the floor and broken glass was everywhere. Carefully walking into the room Harry slowly surveyed what had once been a dangerously clean front room.

Wood chippings and broken glass crunched noisily under his trainer as a deathly pale Harry Potter made his way into the centre of the room. However he completely ignored the disarray that had once been the furniture and ornaments of the family room. His attention focused on the 3 frightfully disfigured figures that lay amongst the mess. Dead!

The thin stick figure that was once Petunia Dursley was the least damaged carcass, she had simply been disembowelled but Harry was willing to guess that she had been raped several times before she was killed.

The largest figure evidently uncle Vernon lay on what looked like the remains of the coffee table. A large cut ran down his face, his left eyeball had been ruptured and its remains hung down the side of his face. His jaw was crushed and several teeth were missing from his mouth. The fat and flesh from around his throat was missing, all that really remained of his neck was his spine, which jutted at an awkward angle poking him in his fatty chin and forcing his head to the side. His stomach and chest had been obviously been the main focus of the murderers attention, the layers of skin and fat that had made up the bulk of his uncle had been peeled away like an orange.

Dudley Dursley was none better off. It looked like the killers had made a deep incision where his belly button was and then they had individually summoned all of the boys organs out individually, from the look of contorted pain that graced the boys face it had been an incredibly slow and painful time until death took hold. Evidently skilled work.

Retching Harry's legs gave way underneath him and he slid to the floor oblivious to the pain shards glass forcing their way into his flesh. A sticky sweat formed on his skin and Harry closed his eyes tight unable to bare looking at the disfigured forms of his relatives for a moment longer. The last of his family had been murdered! He could however still smell them. The scent that he had mistaken for burning meat had been his cousin's carcass, which had branded and burned, hopefully after he had died.

Gulping heavily Harry opened his eyes and was once again assaulted by the view.

Casting a more critical eye in the scene Harry tried to gather some idea of what had happened here even though it was obviously been a Deatheater attack. On the floor next to his aunts body Harry noticed that something had been written in the unfortunate woman's blood.

**You're next Potter! **

Startled Harry quickly picked himself up off the floor, leaning on the wall for support he stumbled quickly for the kitchen door. Panicked and scared he fled out into the pouring rain and started running, ignoring the pain in his cut legs he ran. Not caring that he didn't know where he was going he simply fled the scene of his family's massacre and ran as far and fast as he could out of Little Whinging without looking back.


	2. Suspension, Shadows and Shitholes

**Right first things first i wanna give special thanks to: PhantomHokage, Connor, DJPOTTER, Wyvern Ryder, YuffieRikkulover88, darthme1011, frostyhogwarts, shadow of the wind4699, vanders.bane, taself and Cell4. Your support is appreciated.**

**Tragically enough I don't own the rights to Harry Potter, I wish I did but I don't. All the rights belong to JK Rowling so if I make any money out of this I'm fucked, lucky that fanfiction is non profitable then. Anyways enjoy.**

**Keeping it Real**

**Chapter 1, Suspension, Shadows and Shitholes :**

8 months later.

Tonks was bored. She was going on a raid later that night at a known Deatheater hideout and so wasn't allowed to over exert herself, or in other words she wasn't allowed to do anything at all, which included going home. So here she was stuck at her desk with nothing to do.

Leaning back on her office chair Tonks was currently blowing different coloured bubbles out of the end of her wand. When she had signed on to be an Auror this was not what she had in mind for the highly exciting and dangerous job she grew up believing it to be.

A deep indigo colour from one of her bubbles caught her eye. Smiling clearly amused by the colour she closed her eyes and concentrated. Moments later a newly improved Nymphadora Tonks lent across her desk and picked up a small hand mirror she kept nearby at all times. Admiring her new look Tonks stretched in her chair sighing deeply and sadly.

Casting a disgusted glance across her workbench she mentally smacked herself for being so untidy. Paperclips bent into weird and wonderful shapes littered the desk, official looking documents and reports showered every available space making it look like a small hurricane had centred itself in her cubicle. Cold cups of half drunk coffee in polystyrene cups were randomly placed everywhere, there was space and a small cauldron of purple potion was gently stirring itself in one corner of the desk. Covering the walls were maps of towns and cities across the country where Deatheater attacks had occurred. Pictures of known killers, wanted criminals, vampires, werewolves etc covered the space not filled by the maps. The only individualizing object in her workspace other than the mess was a single framed photograph.

The photo was of her, Remus, Sirius and Harry in a collapsed pile at the bottom of the stairs in number 12 Grimmauld Place. They were all laughing and waving at the camera. It was one of the happier moments Tonks had before life royally fucked her up.

Firstly her bitch of an aunt Bellatrix had murdered Sirius in the department of mysteries. Admittedly Tonks had only really known Sirius for about a year having only one childhood memory of him. She had been five and he had come over to see her mother Andromeda. He was in Auror training at the time and she remembered that he had been telling her about all the wonderful things he was learning in training. A young and shy Tonks had listened in amazement clearly transfixed by the wondrous things he was telling her. It was the main reason she had applied for the job in the first place.

Secondly was the murders of the Dursleys and the consequential disappearance of Harry Potter. Harry's vanishing act had completely thrown the wizarding world into chaos. The Order was in ruins after the attack. Believing Harry needed time to mourn the death of his godfather, Dumbledore had decided that it would be better to give Harry some space and so the Order had pulled back and left him alone. As long as they received the owl every three days making sure that Harry was fine. After two weeks of this arrangement there came a period of four days when the Order received no owl from Harry. Consequently Remus and Arthur had gone to check that Harry was ok, simply believing him to have forgotten to send them the letter. The scene that met their arrival was not a pleasant one; they were the first people to enter the house since the murders two days earlier.

For some reason since then Dumbledore seemed to believe that the light side had no chance in the war without Harry; it was as if the old man truly believed that it was up to Harry to finish the war, the reasoning behind this mindset was a complete mystery to the members of the order because Dumbledore had never seen fit to inform the order about the prophecy.

Gringotts had closed Harry's account and all his gold and heirlooms had been greedily seized by the goblins. Harry had never left a will and the goblins stated upon questioning, "gold was useless to a dead man".

Tonks personally refused to believe that Harry was dead. The young lad had battled dragons, basilisks, an army of dementors and evil wizards and had won every time. A couple of amateur Deatheaters were child's play compared to some of the terrors the unfortunate boy had faced. Tonks wasn't the only person to believe in Harry's survival; in the eight short months, mysterious sightings of Harry plagued the order and ministry.

The Order under Dumbledore's insistence had followed up on each of these sightings, Tonks herself had more than once been sent on one of these wild goose chases. However in the end the Ministry announced Harry Potter was officially presumed dead.

Remus the last remaining member of the marauders had sunk into the deepest depression imaginable. He now spent his days wandering around number twelve muttering about how he had failed Lily, James and Sirius. You were lucky if you found him sober nowadays; He hadn't washed or shaved in weeks and stunk to high heaven. His skin was a pale sickly yellow colour and his eyes were sunken deep into his skull and were surrounded by large black rings. Remus's changes under the full moon were becoming more violent and painful leaving him weak and sick for days. Tonks was preparing herself for the worst, preparing to be met by one of the order members bringing sad news about her friend.

Ron was apparently unaffected by the disappearance of his supposed best friend and was enjoying taking Harry's place in the social structure of Hogwarts. Finally free after being stuck in Harry's shadow all of these years the young Weasley was enjoying all the popularity now bestowed on him by the student body. Hermione had been extremely upset for a few weeks but after much insistence from Ron to "Get over it." she had seemingly recovered from her best friends disappearance and was apparently continuing her life, obsessively throwing herself at her studies with manically renewed vigour claiming it necessary to make up for the grades that had slightly slipped during her period of mourning at Harry's passing.

"TONKS" Dawlish shouted in her ear.

Startled Tonks felt the balance of her chair shift uncontrollably.

"Shit" was all she managed before falling ungraciously backwards. She found herself upside down looking at the cruelly sneering face of Auror Dawlish, one of Fudge's old cronies. A right bastard if ever there was one.

"Kingsley wants to see you in his office." The unpleasant smirking Auror stated. Muttering under her breath about irritating co-workers Tonks picked herself up off the floor and brushed off the dust that had collected on her robes after her tumble.

"Dickhead" She muttered to Dawlish's retreating back, Tonks left the confines of her small cubicle space and started weaving through the lego like construction that made up the work space of the Auror section in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The whole construct was made with the ability to be quickly disassembled and reassembled if it was deemed necessary to move location in a hurry, however to this date it had never been necessary to do this.

Swiftly ducking as several low flying paper airplanes almost careened into her, Tonks expertly made her way through the large room navigating the maze like structure towards her boss's office. Being a senior Auror Kingsley had a proper office that was located at the edges of the mass of cubicles.

Knocking on the oak door that was befittingly labelled with Shacklebolts's name and rank, Tonks patiently waited outside for permission to enter. Even though they were good friends and often partners within the Order both Tonks and Kingsley had to act like they never knew each other outside the work environment. This wasn't too much of a problem for the two of them but often made talk within the ministry building awkward and uncomfortable. Even in Kingsley's private office they would have to pretend like they didn't know each other. Even the walls had ears in this building.

Entering Kingsley's office the high ranking Auror looked up at Tonks and smiled as she approached his large beech wood desk, which Tonks noted with disgust was a damn site cleaner than her own.

"How are ya holding up Tonks?" Kingsley asked laying down the ministry file that he had been reading before she entered, he linked his fingers and lay his hands down on his desk apparently giving Tonks his undivided attention. This made her kind of nervous, she didn't know whether she was in trouble or whether she had done something worthy of congratulations, Kingsley was keeping his face very guarded. Yep, she was in the shits.

"Err fine sir, why do you ask?" Tonks asked actively trying to keep her expression as closed as Kingsley's was.

"Well the higher powers have been doing our yearly evaluations, it turns out that over the past year your work quality has been slipping. This is not acceptable" He informed in a cold tone and giving her a very convincing look of disappointment.

Tonks blanched and she found herself quickly getting angry. She couldn't say anything in her defence. Sirius had never been found innocent even after his death because the ministry had no evidence to Wormtail's survival, so she could hardly blame her poor work on morning of a convicted murderer that she had only met once. As far as anyone knew she had never met Harry or Remus because the only link she had to either of them were through the Order so she could say that she was worried about her two good friends. Clenching her fists and subtly biting her bottom lip Tonks expertly controlled her temper knowing that Kingsley was only the messenger and it wouldn't do well to shoot him.

"I'm sorry sir its just I've had a lot on my mind recently." Tonks forced out through her teeth throwing Kingsley an angry look letting him know that she wasn't happy with this line of questioning, even if the big bosses had put him up to it. Kingsley met her angry eyes with his own and flashed her a look of apology somehow without changing his facial expression.

"Anything you would care to share with me?" He questioned.

"No."

"Very well, it has been advised that you take a couple of weeks off to recuperate. In the two nearly three years you've been with the department you've not yet taken anytime off sick leave or otherwise." Kingsley said subtly hinting that she should have faked illness after Sirius's death to allow herself time to mourn. But Tonks wouldn't allow herself to do that, she wanted revenge against the whore that killed her cousin and vengeance didn't come about from pretending to be ill.

Straightening himself up in his chair Kingsley continued.

"You are to go ahead with your mission tonight and take 2 weeks to yourself after you have been debriefed."

"But sir I can't-"

"That will be all Auror Tonks" Kingsley said in an authoritive tone clearly stating that it was unquestionable. Picking up the file he had been reading before she entered and started studying it again from where he had left off.

Angrily Tonks turned on her heel and quickly started out of the office. Her hands still clenched into fists she took heavier footsteps than were necessary, obviously upset. Grabbing the door handle she threw the door open.

"Oh and Tonks." Kingsley started not looking up from the folder he was reading. "I think that Blue hair would be more adequate for this situation" Tonks stopped dead on her way out when he said that. That was their secret code for saying there was an order meeting later.

Taking a deep breath to cool herself down Tonks replied.

"I dunno I think red hair would be better suited but it depends on how long the raid is going to take." Which roughly meant that she didn't think she was going to make it due to her Auror duties. Tonks left the office slamming the door behind her she made her way back to her workspace to have a good sulk.

A cold fog was descending across the quaint wheat fields near a small village just outside Hampshire. Ms Agatha Dolens wrapped her silken scarf tighter round her old shoulders. Cursing the cold she watched as her breath added to the unsettling mist that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Reaching into her large carpetbag she pulled out her sleek and shiny holly wood wand, with the help of her trusty walking stick she shuffled over to the side of the road and taking a tight grip on her wand she threw out her arm.

There was a deafening BANG and the sleek and shiny violently purple Knight Bus sped into view from around the corner of the small country lane. The triple-decker bus screeched to an unnervingly accurate stop right next to the old widow was standing. All the beds slid to the front of the bus and a small grumbling wizard turned over in his sleep unperturbed by the sudden deceleration.

Stan Shunpike eloquently jumped off the back of the bus and started the speech that he gave to all of the customers.

"Good evenin' and welcome to the nigh' bus. Emergency transport for the- oomph." Was all he managed before Ms Dolens shoved her heavy bag into his stomach winding him.

"Out of my way you stupid annoying little man" Ms Dolens commanded giving poor Stan a painful whack in the shins with her walking stick. She pushed past him with an amazing strength that you wouldn't have thought possible from the crippled old lady, and took a seat on the bed nearest the rear of the bus. Poor Stan blinked in confusion unsure of how to react around the stubborn and headstrong lady, she had completely messed up his prided routine and he was now sporting a painful new bruise on his legs.

Struggling over to the side of her bed with her bag he heaved it over and lay it at the foot of the bed.

"I would like a one way ticket to Hogsmede please, and be quick about it!" Ms Dolens snapped leaning over and fetching her purse out of her bag.

"Very…Very well Mrs…" Stan gasped still recovering from having his diaphragm assaulted by the incredibly heavy bag.

How could the batty old cow wield it with such ease? Stan wondered to himself.

"I'll have you know that it's Ms, Ms Dolens if you must know." Ms Dolens stated primly pursing her lips in a way that reminded him of his old Transfiguration teacher.

Leaning on the brass knob at the end of the bed he took a couple of seconds to recover his breath but wilted under the agitated stare he received from his newest customer.

"That'll be 14 sickles please then Ms Dolens."

"HOW MUCH! 14 SICKLES? WHY, BACK IN MY DAY YOU COULD GET TO BELIGIUM AND BACK FOR 5 KNUTS, 14 SICKLES! THE EXTORTION! THE INDIGNATY! HOW DARE YOU! WHY IF MY HUSBAND WERE STILL ALIVE-" Ms Dolens ranted clearly oblivious to the other customers surrounding her trying to get a half descent kip during their journeys. Poor Stan didn't have any ideas of what to do with the silly daft moo, his spotted brow furrowed into a frown. There was no other option except to let her continue her ranting in the hope that she would burn herself out, he considered confronting her but could only see that option leading to pain.

After about 5 minutes of her idiotic waffling about the state of the country and what her dearest husband Gregory would do if he were still alive Ms Dolens appeared to have worn herself out, and she reluctantly handed over the 14 sickles to a very relieved Stan. She shut her purse with a sharp snap, a noise that made poor Stan jump.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Not wanting another conflict with her Stan quickly rushed past the bed. Limping up to the drivers compartment Stan tapped twice on the glass and with a bang and a sudden burst of speed they were back on the road. They were currently on the Bodmin Moor and were fast speeding for London and after that northwards towards Scotland and Hogsmede, there they would get rid of a customer Stan would be glad to see the back of.

Half an hour later the Knight bus was speeding up the hard shoulder of the M1. They had dropped off most of their passengers in London which was one of their most popular destinations. It was getting quite late in the evening now (nearing 10.00pm) and so business was slowing down for the evening. Ms Dolens had been the last passenger that they had picked up and so the bus was very nearly empty with only two or three customers, all in all it had been a relatively quite night Stan was thinking, as he tried to ignore Ms Dolens constant mutterings about injustice and prejudice.

"Excuse me how much longer is this journey going to take?" Ms Dolens inquired for the third time in the half an hour she had been on the bus.

"It'll take as long as it takes Ms Dolens, an' not a momen' sooner." Stan repeated, it wasn't an answer, but it would shut the dozy old cow up for another ten minutes.

"Stan!" Ernie Prang the bus driver called to his accomplice. Turning round Stan swore under his breath as he saw the humungous traffic jam that the knight bus was quickly approaching.

"Looks like we're going cross country then." Stan muttered to himself as he seated himself on one of the empty beds.

Ernie expertly weaved in and out of the Traffic, somehow fitting in spaces that were far too small for the bus. Soon enough they found access onto a muddy field through a gap in the crash barriers. The previously smooth journey was suddenly assaulted by loose turf, wet mud, stones and potholes this made the journey a lot more uncomfortable than it had been when they were travelling on the tarmac. Nevertheless they once again found themselves travelling at dangerously high speeds, however they were now driving across open countryside.

"Excuse me, young man. Can't you make this ride a bit smoother?" Stan sighed deeply and closed his eyes in frustration.

"It's either this or we go back and si' in tha' traffik jam Ms Dolens."

"Don't you take that tone with me you insufferable young whelp." She began indignantly. Stan had had enough of the painfully annoying woman. So he decided that he would risk bruised shins and brave her wrath. Getting up off the bed he had been lounging on he angrily made his way over to the widow.

"Now you listen 'ere Ms Dolens we-"

BANG the bus lurched uncomfortably to the left, knocking Stan off his feet.

Poor Stan now found himself in an extremely compromising position ontop of the old lady he was about to confront.

"RAPE! RAPE! RAPE!" Ms Dolens started screeching at the tops of her lungs, Stan winced at the sound and tried to pick himself up but the bus swung again as Ernie tried to regain control of the vehicle forcing Stan back down onto Ms Dolens who was now screaming uncontrollably.

BANG

The bus lurched again to the right with such speed and ferocity it was momentarily forced onto two wheels. Ernie desperately pulled up on the handbrake. The incredibly strong brakes the bus was fitted with would usually stop the vehicle dead, however the wet mud under the tyres gave no traction to the grip of the wheels so instead of the stopping all that was achieved was the bus spinning wildly out of control.

BANG

Ernie turned the wheels against the spin of the vehicle desperately hoping to slow the vehicle down.

Darkness covered the right side of the bus, and the cold dreaded feeling of a Dementor filled the terrified hearts of the bus passengers.

Ernie looked out the right side of the bus trying to see what the shadow was. And was met with a cold staring shadow clad skull inches away from his own on the other side of the glass.

The creature was covering the entire side of the bus with its shadowy figure. Aside from its face the only other part of the monstrous behemoth was its skeletal claws that was ripping through the bus shell as if it was tin foil. The last thing that Ernie saw before his world was pitched into eternal darkness was his own horrified expression in the rear view mirror as the bus gave into gravity's force and tipped onto its side.

With a triumphant screech the creature started tearing into the buses purple exterior, trying to get to the soft human flesh contained within.

The Blackheart was one of the grottiest and darkest bars in Knockturn Alley but as Tonks sat in a dark corner of the pub she had to admit to herself, the place had atmosphere. The place was a famous neutral meeting ground for people who made a living out of illegal activity. As a matter of fact Tonks was pretty sure that she had seen Mundungus for a brief moment but she wasn't too sure.

The unpleasantly and cramped pub was full of unsavoury characters and it was unsettling to see them all being so friendly with each other. A small dirty wizard with a glass eye and wooden leg was propped on a stool in the corner opposite Tonks was playing a jolly tune on an accordion, some vampires were sitting at a table next to the large roaring fireplace each with a full glass of blood and a banshee was greedily ripping into a fresh cow leg off to one side of the bar. All in all there must have been two hundred wizards all of them drinking, laughing, chatting or smoking.

Tonks had used her Metamorphmagus skills to their full potential and was currently the most fowl and unpleasant looking hag in the tavern. Her teeth didn't line up properly (very uncomfortable Tonks thought to herself as she ran her tongue over them,) she had a nose that had been broken several times, her skin was shallow and drawn tightly across her face giving her a very gaunt look and her eyes were sunken and dark. These changes and some makeup (which mainly consisting of mud and soot) and she was looking truly hideous. She had also managed to save some of the curtains from Grimmauld Place which she had turned into rags.

Tonks felt safe knowing that there were three fully trained Aurors in the alley out the back of the pub and another of her colleagues was disguised at the bar. She and the other auror that was in the pub were both trying to listen in on conversations, hoping to spy on any Deatheater conversations. So far she hadn't heard any schemes that had sounded like Voldemorts plans but she had heard many other illegal activities that were going to happen across the country, the worst offences she tried to remember so they could be stopped. She'd heard everything, from someone trying to sell some stolen cauldrons to a small group of overeager youngsters that were going to try and smuggle a Nundu into the country.

Struggling to hear anything over the laughter music and general noise that came about from having so many people in such a cramped space, Tonks was listening intently to any and all conversations within her hearing range.

"Come on its yur round-"

"I told you I'm not interested in any jade seeing stone-"

"I'll give you five galleons for them-"

"I love you man, yer my bestest friend you barstad.-"

"A NUNDU, ARE YOU KIDS CRAZY?"

Two darkly dressed men sat down at the table next to her. The first was dressed in ragged fir lined robes and looked like he was going collapse and have a nervous breakdown at any moment, he had shifty pale blue eyes that stared out through his greasy stringy black hair, his pale skin was coated in a thin layer of sweat and he looked incredibly trustworthy and reminded Tonks highly of Peter Pettigrew. She could easily see this man sucking up to people with more power than him, but she could also see him turning traitorous stabbing someone in the back, especially for his own profits. Tonks had an instantly disliked him even though they had never talked.

The seedy mans companion on the other hand looked extremely relaxed, as if he was in any normal bar and not one filled with cutthroats and murderers. Tonks came to the conclusion that this man was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. He was dressed completely in black. He had a leather bomber jacket over a shirt with black jeans, dragon hide boots gave the impression that he was wealthy, but if he was rich what was he doing in this shit hole. His long messy black hair hid his face well, but Tonks just got a glimpse of his dark amber eyes. If she could have guessed Tonks would have classified him as a werewolf but he was looking far too healthy and cheerful. He was unnaturally content Tonks thought to her self and to be honest he freaked her out more than the slime ball he was sat with.

"Come on Bolt" the first greasy haired man was saying in a hushed whisper "you owe this to the Guild, it's only one small job."

"I owe you and the guild nothing Virius and you lot know it." Bolt returned confidently. Taking a sip of his beer he lay the mug on the table "And I don't appreciate the implication that I'm indebted to you in any way" he added with a scowl. The man called Virius was looking quite exasperated and Tonks was pretty sure that this conversation had been going on for a while before they sat down next to her.

She had a perfect view of Virius's face because he was sat facing her, but Bolt had his back to her an she couldn't see his face so she had no idea what he was thinking. She was however hooked on the conversation and couldn't believe her luck that these two had sat on the table right next to her own.

"The Guild will not stand for this indignity! They will strike you down before the month is out!" Virius stated straightening in his chair, trying to make himself more imposing, Bolt burst however out laughing.

"Ha you really think I'm scared of those lunatics! All they ever do is play with magic, then scare themselves shitless when they succeed in creating anything worthwhile, besides as far they're concerned I'm their biggest failure, they daren't try anything with me."

Tonks was extremely confused; she had no idea what these people were talking about. Who was "The Guild?" and how could they create someone?

"We are growing more powerful; we have some new allies who you don't want to mess with." Virius muttered, he was looking straight into Bolt's face, he seemed unnerved that his threats were being accepted so lightly.

So you pussy's have finally accepted the Dark Lords offer"

Alarms bells started going off in Tonks' head; the Dark Lord had new allies! She had to find out who this Guild was! This was vital information for the light side!

"Do you honestly think that I'm scared of some stupid bugger who is given a magic wand and suddenly thinks he's god?" Bolt added.

Tonks was flabbergasted and it took a lot of her will power to stop her hand rising to her mouth at the pure nerve this guy had, how could he have the balls to utter that sentence in a bar filled with potential Deatheaters.

"You should be! He answers all life's questions, puts everything in perspective."

Virius continued his voice full of wonder and a contempt look coming over his face as he stared off into space momentarily.

Bolt interrupted his associate day dreaming "Yeh, I don't think he can answer the questions that I would ask him." He started "Why is the earth round? Why do humans have two legs? Why is the woman sitting behind me listening in on our conversation?"


	3. Caught, Cruciatus and Cunning

**Right first things first thanks to DivineEmporer, Dudey-Bug, FroBoy, He-Who-Will-Conquer-Happily, Ladieraie, Lord Nexus, Mephesto, Serenity Slytherin, TONE33, allin656, demon-sword, killernurd, sqammage, xalos and yorkvillebird. Your support is greatly appreciated.**

**And really special thanks to BooTheGhost, Rome28, darthme1011, dashbash9787, dghouse, FroBoy, Shadow High Angel, amac1688, The PhantonHokage, taself, vanders.bane, angelkitty77, Cell4, Mr-Yum and Reverend666. Thanks so much for your reviews and favorites. **

**Tragically enough I don't own the rights to Harry Potter, I wish I did but I don't. All the rights belong to JK Rowling so if I make any money out of this I'm fucked, lucky that fanfiction is non profitable then. Anyways enjoy.**

**Keeping it Real**

**Chapter 2, Caught, Cruciatus and Cunning:**

_Bolt interrupted his associate's day dreaming "Yeh, I don't think he can answer the questions that I would ask him." He started "Why is the earth round? Why do humans have two legs? Why is the woman sitting behind me listening in on our conversation?"_

Tonks froze in her seat. Shit. How was she going to get out of this one alive? Shit. Think Tonks think. She needed to come up with an excuse and fast. How did he know she was listening to him? Forget that think of an excuse. NOW! Oh gods she was gonna die. THINK! Double Shit!

"Err begging your pardon kind sirs but a conversation such as the one you were having is not one that is easily ignored." Tonks mumbled trying to make her voice as raspy as possible so as to fit the disguise she was wearing.

Bolt swivelled around in his chair and me met her currently harsh blue eyes with his own dark amber.

"It doesn't do well to listen to conversations that are none of your concern." Bolt stated, scolding her as if he was talking to a naughty child. There was a hint of humour in his eyes clearly he found it somewhat amusing that she had been listening in on their conversation.

Virius was looking like he had been force fed a lemon. The blood had drained from his face, he was now sweating profusely and his pupils had visibly dilated.

"You told me this was a safe place to meet!" He whispered accusingly throwing a hateful glare at Tonks. "And now we have whores listening in on our conversation!"

"That's a bit harsh Virius, I'm sure this lovely young lady couldn't help herself." Bolt said giving Tonks a radiant smile. If Tonks didn't have such amazing control of her body and emotions she would have been blushing, luckily she somehow managed to glare at both of them.

"I REFUSE TO DISGUSS OUR BUISNESS IN A PUB FULL OF SNOOPS!" Virius more less shouted causing people on the surrounding tables to give the three of them dirty looks. This was bad they were attracting far too much attention. She would have to leave now, nobody would talk around her now that Virius had called her a snoop.

Bolt swiftly and angrily turned back to face Virius and venomously replied, "The only reason we were meeting tonight is so that you can pay me!"

Bolt had enough sense to keep his voice down so the patrons at the other tables returned to their drinks and business dealings, grumbling to their partners about the disruption.

"Have you got the evidence?" Virius questioned. Bolt took a bloodstained tissue out of one of his inner jacket pockets and slid it across the table. Virius opened the tissue towards himself so that Tonks couldn't see what was inside and judging by the way the sickly looking man paled she didn't really want to see what the tissue was hiding.

Virius pocketed the bloody trinket and placed a bag of gold on the table.

"Aren't you going to count it?" Virius asked. Bolt looked up and scowled at him.

"Should I?"

"No just wondering if you trust the Guild enough not to count your payment."

"I trust the Guild to know the consequences should they try and short change me" Bolt stated calmly a feral look across his face, clearly money was important to him.

"V-very well then, I'm leaving. Think about what I said." Virius stood up and walked away without looking back.

"Well at least that got rid of him" Bolt said turning back round to face Tonks with a smile. His eyes with a sparkle in them that promised fun whilst holding a look of innocence. Tonks felt incredibly drawn to his eyes. How could this man be dark?

"Ye-yeh." Tonks replied finding herself suddenly tongue tied under the intense but kind gaze of the strange yet friendly man.

Tonks considered herself a pretty good judge of character. She could read peoples emotion and expressions like a book, human psychology and emotion reading were part of standard Auror training, after all it was better to know what an opponent was thinking than to be ignorant of their intensions, especially in a duel. But Tonks couldn't read Bolt at all. She couldn't tell what he was thinking and couldn't tell what he was going to do or say, and knowing that he was a potential dark wizard possibly even a murderer scared the shit out of her. However the butterflies in her stomach were much more than simply nerves or fear.

Bolt threw two galleons down on the table next to the butter beer that Tonks had slowly been nursing.

"Get yourself a drink, and remember what I said about listening to conversations. Curiosity killed the cat" Bolt said standing up "And I owe you thanks for getting rid of that pain in the arse for me."

Bolt leaned in close to her and Tonks gulped heavily finding her mouth suddenly dry. She could feel his breath on her skin and smell the slight whiff of aftershave.

"My thanks to you…" Bolt whispered placing a chaste kiss on her cheek "Nymphadora Tonks."

Swirling around Bolt disappeared into the crowds, which parted before him like water. Tonks watched him go petrified to her seat. How did he know her name?

A sudden heat on her chest made Tonks jump. One of the Aurors outside had raised the alarm. Her partner at the bar Auror White met her eyes from across the pub.

A sudden high-pitched scream came from outside the bar followed by a swift silence. Everyone in the bar shut up, all listening for more sounds from outside. Nobody moved in the room and the only sound was the flames crackling in the open fireplace.

White met her gaze again fear filling his eyes. He glanced at the door and then back at her.

NO. Tonks mouthed desperately shaking her head. Don't do it you stupid bastard, don't you dare go for the door, hopefully the newly trained Auror White wouldn't try to do anything heroic and consequently blow their cover.

Alas despite her frenzied praying that he wouldn't try to help his fellow Aurors, White started purposely striding towards the door.

All the heads in the bar whipped round to stare at the inexperienced youth as he made his way across the bar. Dirty looks followed him the darker and more paranoid characters realising that he was a spy. Some even started looking around for her, it was well know knowledge that Aurors did things in twos and threes.

Another scream sounded outside the pub caused White to falter slightly for a moment before continuing his bold and heroic walk across the pub. Tonks tried to make herself as inconspicuous as possible sinking low in her chair, hoping that she was disguised well enough to escape suspicion she started looking around for the second Auror.

White had reached the door and was about to open it when it was thrown open from the outside. Dark cloaked and hooded figures started filtering in through the doorway. Six of them, skull shaped masks covered their faces; their black robes were covered with blood, probably the only remains of the unfortunate Aurors that were outside.

"Well well well looksie what we got here." The lead deatheater taunted grabbing White by the throat. White was gaping like a fish out of water; his eyes were flashing too much white. He was terrified. His right hand started slowly making its way towards the pocket where he had his wand stored.

"Woah not so fast kiddo" The deatheater taunted before quickly bringing his leg up violently, kneeing White in the stomach. The young Auror fell to the ground winded.

This was the poor buggers first assignment out of the academy and he spending it being beaten up by deatheaters.

The deatheater lowered his mask exposing his face to the bar. Rodolphus LeStrange.

"We've got us an Auror spy here lads," Rodolphus stated addressing the rest of the group. "Not a very honest way to make a living now is it, spying on people, why it's almost criminal!"

A murmured amount of taunted agreement met this comment as the rest of the brainless Deatheater groupies laughed at White who was lying on the ground struggling to breathe.

"Listen up you gauntless idiots. Aurors are like mangy dogs they travel in packs," Rodolphus laughed. The deatheaters with him must have all been new recruits because he was preaching. "What you need to do is flush out the other."

Tonks shifted uncomfortably in her chair, knowing that they were going to torture and embarrass White in front of this pub filled with people to try and get her to reveal herself.

All the tenants of the bar were watching the scene with vague amusement; some of the drinkers had sat down or turned their chairs so they could watch the scene comfortably.

"CRUCIO" LeStrange shouted.

The painful red curse hit in the back. White started screaming and shaking, in a fit like state as all his muscles tightened and clenched. Unbelievable was pain shooting through his body as all his nerve endings registered assault.

"Now will the elusive patron who came with this swine come forward and stop this torture?" Rodolphus shouted above the screams and jeers from the deatheaters and drinkers.

Tonks was sweating. She could stop this torture. But that would mean giving herself up; White had bought this upon himself, there was nothing she could do for him, this is what happens when you let emotions control your actions. Her superiors would agree with her.

"Well it appears that our elusive Auror has more guts than I gave them for granted." Rodolphus shouted to the crowd. A roar of approval met this remark.

"Well ladies and gents what are we going to do?" Rodolphus shouted to the bar dramatically rubbing his chin as if in deep thought. Everyone was laughing a jaunting poor White who was shivering uncontrollably after such long exposure to the cruciatus. At some point he had lost bladder control and had urinated all over himself, silent tears made his was down his face leaving wet tracks on his skin.

"In all my years of flushing out hiding Aurors I have concluded that although an Auror can sit idly by whilst watching one of their peers being mentally tortured they can't sit and watch as physical damage is done." Rodolphus preached. "Or in other words they're all bloody queasy" he shouted laughing.

Oh no Tonks thought.

Rodolphus lifted Auror White up by his hair and unsheathed his knife from his belt. Wielding the blade with practised ease he slowly run the knife up the side of White's head, slowly cleaving the ear off of his head.

A slow and painful wail made its way out of White's throat as the blade severed through the soft flesh of his ear. Tonks flinched and closed her eyes shuddering as she listened to her partners painful whimpering.

Bile starting to rising in her throat and Tonks decided that she had to get out and away from this place. Slowly getting up from her sitting place she tried to keep as low as possible whilst staying as far away from the deatheaters as she could, making her way to the exit. Keeping behind other drinkers and tables she was making good progress towards the door until.

"And where do you think you're goin missy?" Everyone in the bar was looking at her. Rodolphus was standing next to the collapsed form of a heavily bleeding White, the deatheater had a horrible smirk on his face and had his arms crossed he bloody knife still in his hand.

"S-Sorry kind sir but I'm late for an appointment elsewhere, so despite how much I'm enjoying the entertainment I have to go." Tonks said lowering her head in a bow of submission, she slowly backed towards the door keeping her head bowed facing LeStrange.

A large burley deatheater stepped behind her and crossed his arms leaning on the door stopping people going in or out.

"I don't think you're going anywhere… Auror" Rodolphus spat

"I'm not an Auror and I'm really sorry sir but I must be going"

"You are an Auror you pathetic excuse of a witch, any self respecting hag would gladly change her plans for the opportunity to watch someone being tortured." The hags in the bar all nodded their agreement with LeStrange's statement.

"I...I…" Tonks stuttered knowing that her cover was blown; two deatheaters appeared either side of her and grabbed her arms before she could reach for her wand. Tonks started struggling against their grip as they forced her forwards towards her uncle.

"Besides if you're not an Auror you won't mind if I do this." Rodolphus leant forwards plunging his knife between Whites shoulder blades just below the base of his neck.

White made a gurgling sound and quite a lot of blood started leaking out of his mouth, he shuddered and stopped breathing.

"NO" Tonks shouted momentarily forgetting herself and her situation.

A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd and slowly got louder as tears started leak out of Tonks eyes as she looked at her fallen comrade.

"You bastards this was his first assignment! He'd just got out the academy!" Tonks screamed at the deatheaters or more specifically LeStrange.

"Well guess what" Rodolphus said getting close to her face "I don't care" This comment bought about more laughter and mocks at poor Tonks' expense.

"Now lets torture this one." Said one of the enthusiastic recruits rubbing his hands together.

"Very well you newbie's can have a go at this one. You, Auror for every question you fail to answer or lie about you get hit with a cruciatus." Rodolphus stated stepping back to allow other deatheaters forward, he started questioning.

"What your name?" Asked the first

"Fuck you!"

"Wrong answer CRUCIO!"

Fortunately for Tonks because these were new recruits they didn't have much experience with the unforgivables and so the curse was weak in comparison to what it could have been. It still bloody hurt though.

"What was the other Aurors name?"

"F-Fuck you!"

"CRUCIO!"

"What have you heard here tonight"

"-"

"CRUCIO"

This went on for another ten minutes before LeStrange put stop to it. It was clear that Tonks was extremely loyal to the light side and so wasn't going to talk.

Tonks was shaking, all her muscles hurt and she was winded. Lying on the floor she rested her forehead against the cool wood boards.

Rodolphus knelt down near Tonks

"Why make yourself suffer like this, all we want to know is your name." He said kindly in a soft voice "If you don't tell us anything we'll have to kill you."

Tonks looked up at her uncle's face with a look of pure hatred and disgust.

"M-Murderer" She managed, her throat was hurting from screaming from and from where her muscles had constricted whilst under the curse.

"Very well." He said standing up "This ones useless to us, she wont talk AVADA KED-" **BANG**

The explosion of a gunshot reverberated through the bar. Blood sprayed across Tonks as one half of Rodolphus' head exploded out backwards.

Everyone sat in silence as Bolt leisurely made his way through the tables and chairs his gun drawn on the other deatheaters.

"I think you've had enough fun here don't you?" He asked casually looking at the nearest Deatheater who simply nodded dumbly. "Good"

Walking over to Tonks he grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her to her feet. Tonks was shaking and staring at the now disfigured and motionless form of her uncle.

Pulling her gaze away from the corpse she looked at Bolt who was keeping his gaze on the Deatheaters and any other particular trouble. "By your leave" he stated simply.

Tonks stumbled towards the door feeling vomit starting to rise in her throat. Bolt who still had his pistol trained on the deatheaters was speedily backing out of the pub as he quickly followed her.

He found her throwing up into the gutter just around the corner from the pub.

"Are you alright?" he questioned sympathy and concern tainting his voice. Tonks shook her head. No she wasn't alright. He holstered his gun.

"Okay come on, easy" He comforted, he put an arm around her back and supported her as she rose to a standing position. He gave her a tissue, which she used to wipe LeStrange's blood of her face.

They walked down Knockturn Alley together Tonks leaning heavily on him because she was still weak after being submitted to the cruciatus for so long. Breathing heavily Tonks shivered in disgust at the events that she had just witnessed and been subjected to. At least they still didn't know who she was.

Tonks stumbled, suddenly a severe and sharp migraine making her scrunch her face up. Bolt stopped for her, looking at her with concern as she changed into her natural form. Her hair grew to a shoulder length mousey brown and her eyes were a deep hazel, her face kept the same heart shape but her nose became slightly sharper.

"Apparently your emotional discomfort is affecting your magic levels" Bolt muttered more to himself than to her. Tonks rubbed her face seemingly somewhat fazed that her face had changed out of her control.

"Come on lets get you somewhere warm."

"H-How did you know?" Tonks stuttered questioningly

"How did I know what?"

"How did you know who I was? In the pub." Tonks said glancing at him. He kept his eyes on the alley ahead of him, jumping slightly as a black cat run across their path.

He smiled slightly to himself "good luck" he muttered "I knew who you were because you were the only hag that wasn't dancing, you were drinking butter beer when a real hag would have been drinking something far stronger, there were Aurors outside. And to be honest you just fit in too well, using this I gathered that you were an Auror. From there it was kind of obvious you were too well disguised for it to be simply make-up and as far as I know there is only one metamorphmagus on the Auror pay list, you."

By the end of Bolts explanation they had reached the entrance to Diagon Alley, the usually busy alley was reasonably empty, even for this time of night. Increased attacks by Voldemort and rumours of vicious attacks by strange dementor like goliaths had scared a lot of the wizarding populace into their homes by nightfall.

A patrolling group of Aurors were walking away from them.

"Take me over to them." Tonks said still a bit unsteady on her feet.

"Oi you lot, over here!" Bolt yelled at them. Not very eloquent or dignified but it got them to turn around

The group walked over to them distaste and distrust written all over their faces.

"Yeh what you want?" The lead said. His hair was greased back against his head he looked down his nose at them, evidently the son of a pureblood noble raised to believe that he was better than them.

"Shut up Williamson and get me back to the ministry." Tonks snapped at him.

"And who are you to give us orders?" one of the other Aurors questioned, sighing Tonks screwed her face up hard and let out and audible gasp as her hair turned very slowly to a weak and faded pink colour.

"Oh sorry Tonks." Williamson apologised recognising her signature bright hair colouring.

"Just get me back to headquarters." She replied angry at the prejudice shown by her comrades not two minutes before.

"Hold on a second Tonks, who's this?" Williamson asked.

"Just and innocent passer-by who accidentally got caught up in Auror business." Bolt said putting on his best impression of an angelic face. Tonks snorted at his attempt. From what she had seen of Bolt he was anything but innocent. Actually from what she had seen he was a cold-blooded murderer. A shiver ran down her back as she remembered how close to death she had come tonight and Rodolphus' surprised expression as part of his brain vacated his head.

"Whatever" Williamson sneered, "Here Tonks hold on" He handed her a bluish stone from out of his robe pocket.

"See ya round" Bolt winked at her. He turned to leave, his hair lifted slightly in the air. Was that a scar on his forehead?

"WAI-" she shouted but it was too late the portkey had already activated. Tonks nearly screamed out her frustrations as she landed on the cold hard marble in the Ministry atrium.


End file.
